Belgium, Italy and the return to Ireland

Hellooooooo,

Many people from different parts of my life have been requesting that I send out a blog to a) let them know what is up in my life or b) to let them know that I'm not dead. SO, if you are of the latter group, I'm alive, you can stop reading now :)

I'll update when I can, which will probably be often since I don't have a job, but we will get to that. This update, as it is the first, may be long and boring (the not-so-boring amendments will have to be read between the lines), so try to stick with it.

I arrived on July 2nd in Dublin and was promptly whisked away, half comatose due to sleep deprivation, by Paddy and David. They were kind enough to pick me up at the airport at 7am and wait until my luggage (the last of the plane) was finally ready. We headed for Paddy's house in Malahide, which is where I'm staying right now, and where I will be until September 1st. (Unless I get kicked out before then, which is a serious possibility.) Paddy's house in Malahide is amazing, and I'm actually "tenant-sitting" for him right now because he is in Canada for three weeks. (He has a lovely flatmate Marcus who also lives here.) Enjoy the parentheses. I revel in them. I live really close to Malahide Castle and the water, so I have some amazingly picturesque places to run around. The running has now become a necessity since all I have eaten in the past three weeks are fries, belgian waffles, pizza, pasta, mayo (on EVERYTHING), gelato, and cheese sandwiches. One can only IMAGINE what all the dairy is doing to this body of mine. MALAHIDE CASTLE!

After "napping" at Paddy's and missing my bus to the airport, I made it just in time for my flight with strangers who I'd never met before (the amazing Eimear and Mark), and we headed to Brussels where we met up with Joe and David for five days of craic, camping, and music at Rock Werchter. The bands were amazing (Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Kate Nash-love her!, 2manydjs, Beck...to name a few) and camping was a blast. It was crazy because it was so hot during the day, and SO COLD at night that I had trouble sleeping. Also, we ended up with a fair amount of rain, and I now have my very own pair of festival-fit wellingtons (wellies!) to traipse around Dublin in. (So embarassing, I know!)
EIMEAR AND I ARE "FESTIVAL-FIT"

After Belgium I met up with my former Principal, Scott, and his soccer team of 18 men in Italy. A PARTIAL CREW OF KICKERS

That was an experience for the books. I will tell you all this, men of all ages and all nationalities are all the same. This is not cynicism, but it is the truth. haha. (Alright boys, fight me on this. I WILL win!) Firenze (Florence) was so so so beautiful, if not entirely over touristed by Americans. (There is an ex-pat community of 40,000 N.Americans in Firenze!) The Duomo was seriously a sight to see, the views were spectacular looking down upon the city, and David really IS as jaw-dropping as people say. And his....hands....are HUGE! Yes, traveling with males has made me immature to the core. And yes, I blame them. Was I like this before?? :) VIEW FROM THE DUOMO

The Kickers won their game outside Firenze, and that was good fun to watch. I took a million photos on one of the team-members professional cameras, so eventually I should have some spectacular photos of the guys in action.

After Firenze we went to Vernazza, in Cinque Terra, at the beach. This was my favorite part of Italy. It was SO quiet (I think the Kickers doubled the town's size), and we just got to relax by the beach for three days. VERNAZA...THE WHOLE TOWN!

We stayed in these great little apartments and I got to fully experience what being a Kicker was all about. (Hint--it involves lots of talk about ladies too young/too hot for them, and lots of inappropriate bathroom jokes. haha.) We also went for this great hike that no tourists ever go on because one of the guys on the team, Slover, has a girlfriend, Dawn, who lived in Vernazza for years and took us around. We walked up to this church that apparently housed the last priest that performed exorcism in Italy before he died. Our last night in Vernazza, there was this crazy outdoor party on the beach with DJ's and music and crazy, crazy dancing. (Photo op, pre-dancing madness. Amazing lighting.)

We all stayed up way too late and were seriously hurting on the train the next day. SO worth it! We spent our last night in Italy in Milan, which by the way, I was shocked to find I loved instantly. It has the right amount of loud/quiet, grit/beauty. Not to mention the fact that they had happy hours with FULL FOOD BUFFETS. Amazing. MILAN--AND THEN THERE WERE 13

Before I finish blogging about Italy, I should note that the best part of the trip, besides Kicker entertainment, was the food. Slover is a Sommelier (fancy-shmancy French word for a person who buys wine for a living_) so we drank amaaaaazing (read EXPENSIVE) bottles of the best wine in Italy for 8 days straight. So bougie, and SO worth it!

Now, for Ireland. I slept for two days straight, pretty much, when I finally got back to Paddy's, and I have since recovered, and already become sleep deprived again. The good news is, it is still true that I love this country and it's people and I am SO glad I came. The bad news is that I'm finding it hard to find a job. I mean, people who are IRISH are finding it hard to find a job with the economy the way it is right now, so for me, well, I don't have a work permit, for starters. It has been a pretty depressing realization, but, I haven't given up hope and I'm going to keep looking. I have also recently decided that I am going to take a TESOL course in teaching English to Language Learners. I figure, if it doesn't help me get a job here, it will certainly help me get a job anywhere else in the world, and it will look good on my resume in the states. I'm going to be doing that in Galway (in the south west of Ireland) so I'm going to be living there for a month in September. I don't know anyone there, but it is the Ireland of Ireland (in terms of green beauty), so I'm really psyched to be going there. It was my favorite place when I visited a couple years ago. Currently I am looking for a place to live for that month. It would be cool to rent a room in a flat...we will see.

In other Irish news, I'm so lucky to know David, Patty, and the lot of them, because they have totally been taking care of me. David and I and a bunch of his friends went to this music festival (first ever!) called Rock the Riverbank in the North this weekend, in County Monaghan. I got to see Ciaran (after nearly four years!), and meet his lovely girlfriend. It was beautiful (if not unbelievably cold!) and I met some really cool people, including some awesome girls who live in the Dublin area and a really cool guy who unfortunately lives in London and was just home visiting. I love that everyone I'm surrounded by loves music as much as I do.
Rock the Riverbank--Me, Sonya, Sandra

I will say, that I'm sorely missing my girlfriends at home, especially after being surrounded by only men for nearly three weeks. I think, though, that if nothing else, this is a learning experience for me. I am learning to be alone, learning to take chances, and learning that it is completely okay to try and not succeed.

I know that this is terribly long, and it won't happen again. If you made it to the end....I love you and miss you.

Love Hammer

PS: Craic (pronounced CRACK) is the Irish word for nearly everything, but in this case, it means "fun and crazy times."